Vessels
US Navy needs private shipyards to get attack submarine maintenance back on track
The US Navy should leverage potential private shipyard repair capacity if it wants to reduce delays in attack submarine maintenance periods and cut operating and support cost expenditures, a GAO report has found. The Government Accountability Office’s analysis of navy maintenance data shows that bet
USS Ronald Reagan arrives in Hong Kong after dual-carrier ops in Philippine Sea
A US Navy carrier strike group centered around the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) arrived in Hong Kong for a scheduled port visit on November 21. The arrival of Ronald Reagan to Hong Kong follows China’s refusal to allow amphibious assault ship USS Wasp to visit the city in September th
Russia’s second Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate ready for sea trials
The Russian Navy’s second Project 22350 frigate Admiral Kasatonov is ready to start builder’s trials in December this year, Saint Petersburg-based shipbuilder Severnaya Verf has announced. Shipyard workers and the Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate’s crew are completing final preparations for the ship’s
FS Cassard rescues seafarers during Franco-Kuwaiti exercise Pearl of the West
French Navy anti-air warfare destroyer FS Cassard rescued twelve crew members of the Panama-flagged asphalt-bitumen tanker Durban Queen in the Persian Gulf on November 20. FS Cassard was en route to Kuwait and exercise Pearl of the West when it received a distress call from the nearby tanker. Accord
USS Ashland concludes typhoon Yutu support
US Navy amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) departed the waters near Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on November 20 after assisting relief efforts in the aftermath of super typhoon Yutu. Ashland sailors worked with Department of Defense to provide suppo
HMS Albion wraps up final stop of 10-month Asia-Pacific deployment
Royal Navy amphibious assault ship HMS Albion has completed the final port call of a ten-month deployment to Asia-Pacific. Albion departed Gibraltar on November 20 and is expected to arrive at its Plymouth homeport on Friday. After a number of stops in the Asia-Pacific region and Middle East – Indon
Pentagon clears sale of SM-3 missiles to JMSDF
The US State Department has approved a possible sale of eight Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1B missiles and thirteen SM-3 Block 2A missiles to Japan for an estimated cost of $561 million. In an announcement on November 19, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the contract also included
The challenges of repairing a 40-year-old icebreaker
Article by: Peter Ong The United States Coast Guard’s only heavy operational Polar-class icebreaker, Polar Star, completed its annual scheduled refit at Mare Island, Vallejo, California, in a maintenance period riddled with challenges. The forty-two year old ship returned from Operation Deep Freeze
VT Halter Marine gets long lead contract for Oceanographic Survey Ship (T-AGS 67) construction
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded VT Halter Marine a $9 million contract for further design engineering, procurement of long-lead time material and limited advanced production of the Oceanographic Survey Ship (T-AGS 67). The T-AGS 67 will be a follow-on ship to the T-AGS 60-class program
F-35B lands “backwards” on HMS Queen Elizabeth in another Westlant 18 milestone
After acing the revolutionary shipborne rolling vertical landing earlier this year, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and the F-35 Lightning team have now achieved another milestone during the carrier’s flight trials off the US East Coast. As announced by the Royal Navy, an F-35B short
APEC: US to aid redevelopment of PNG’s Lombrum naval base
The United States will team up with Australia and Papua New Guinea for the redevelopment of the Pacific Island nation’s Lombrum naval base on Manus island, US vice president Mike Pence announced at the APEC leaders summit. Pence’s announcement comes a month after Australia announced an agreement wit
Lockheed gets $382m contract to build 8 MH-60R helicopters
The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $382 million contract modification to manufacture and deliver eight MH-60R helicopters. The MH-60R Seahawk helicopter is used today by the US Navy as a primary platform for anti-submarine warfare in open ocean and littoral zones. Also known as the ‘Romeo’, t
Australia’s HMAS Stuart returns from Asian deployment
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Stuart returned to her home port of Fleet Base West following a three-month deployment to North East Asia. While deployed, Stuart took part in a number of exercises conducted in the North East Asia region in company with HMAS Melbourne and Sirius. The commanding of
Royal Navy carrier meets Zumwalt destroyer in the Atlantic
Two days after leaving her construction site in Maine, US Navy’s stealth destroyer Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) met with Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) for a photo exercise in the Atlantic Ocean. Joining the two on November 11 were Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer US